Lin Chengyun had originally planned to properly comprehend the Sword Intent, but she discovered that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t enter a state of enlightenment.
Instead, Lin Zhiwei beside her had already closed her eyes, constantly emanating an aura identical to the Sword Domain, clearly benefiting greatly.
‘Comparing yourself to others is infuriating, sigh…’
She felt a wave of envy.
Just as she was feeling envious, she suddenly noticed a blood-red, strange spiritual entity appear before her, half-human, half-snake!
‘No wonder the giant snake was killed so easily earlier. No wonder it was cunning like a human. It wanted to take form and cultivate its spirit!’
She almost instantly understood its origin. Just as she wanted to stand up and resist, she found herself completely unable to move.
The overbearing Sword Domain completely enveloped her. It wouldn’t allow her to move until the demonstration of the contained Sword Intent was finished.
‘I’m finished!’
Lin Chengyun looked despairingly at the giant snake spirit full of resentment and hatred, feeling helpless for a moment.
She could only watch helplessly as it formed hand seals, and streams of eerie, blood-red spiritual energy, like snakes, surged toward her. She could almost smell the bloody scent within them.
“Roar!”
Just as she was about to meet her demise, a low beast’s roar suddenly came from the distance.
A powerful, overbearing azure spiritual energy condensed into the phantom of an unknown strange beast, instantly pouncing in front of her.
“Hiss… What?”
The eerie blood-red spirit, originally filled with glee and on the verge of exacting its revenge, also suddenly noticed this scene.
A soul-deep pressure filled it with terror. It didn’t even dare to flee, trembling as the azure strange beast swallowed it in one bite, completely enveloping it within its body.
Azure wrapped around red. A moment later, the blood-red spirit shattered into pieces, as if digested and absorbed.
The spiritual energy-formed beast let out a satisfied burp before leisurely flying away into the distance.
‘So strong… Is that the senior?’
Lin Chengyun couldn’t move, so she couldn’t see where it flew to, but she was certain this was definitely spiritual energy, not some demon beast.
Given such immense strength and the willingness to save the two of them, it could only be the mysterious senior Lin Zhiwei had mentioned.
‘This is the second time. He really does value you.’
She knew full well the other party was here for Lin Zhiwei, which made her even more envious, murmuring to herself.
This senior must at least be at the Golden Core stage. Could he be a Nascent Soul big shot? He probably has an immortal, transcendent demeanor…
Since she couldn’t comprehend the Sword Intent anyway, she unconsciously began to speculate.
—
“Ugh, slow down!”
In the distance, Su Xuan was not as carefree as she imagined. Instead, he clutched his chest, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
The azure strange beast formed from spiritual energy returned and tightly enveloped him, simultaneously transforming into a vast amount of spiritual energy that surged into his body from all directions.
For a moment, he couldn’t withstand it.
Unlike the spiritual energy from Spiritual Stones, which he needed to absorb himself, this was more like a direct devouring. It rushed straight into his Dantian, converting into azure spiritual power.
The only problem was that his meridians couldn’t handle it at all. It was like having an ample water supply, but if the pipes are too narrow, they get constantly stretched. At the limit, they might even crack.
His progress, originally only halfway through the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, was instantly filled by this surge of spiritual energy, almost pushing him to the brink of a breakthrough.
‘Is this what you call improving aptitude??’
Su Xuan finally understood what the system meant, cursing internally.
But then again, thinking about it, that damn thing wasn’t wrong. Was it fast or not?
Feeling like he was about to burst, he could no longer worry about the two women in the distance. He quickly channeled the spiritual energy into his limbs and bones and sprinted toward the marketplace.
Breaking through in the mountains was too dangerous. Running on the road could also consume some of the spiritual energy. Killing two birds with one stone.
—
Half an hour…
An hour…
The sky gradually darkened. Lin Zhiwei still had her eyes closed, showing no signs of waking up.
“Big sis, are you done yet?”
Lin Chengyun couldn’t comprehend anything at all. She could only sit cross-legged and wait, feeling her legs go completely numb, almost to the point of collapse.
‘Enlightened for so long… I’m going to fight you geniuses…’
She was envious to the extreme.
For an ordinary person, being enlightened for fifteen or thirty minutes was already remarkable. But now it had been so long. Was she treating it like a meal?
“Boom!”
A soft sound erupted from Lin Zhiwei’s body. The sword patterns swirling around her all surged into her body and then instantly exploded outward.
She remained with her eyes tightly shut, but her body moved on its own. With a wave of her jade-like hand, the long sword stuck in the stone flew back into her grasp, absorbing all those sword patterns clean once more.
The original ordinary iron gradually turned into a jade-white color.
Then, with just a few sword moves, wherever the jade sword passed, a sharp, imposing aura suddenly rose. It was like countless stars, continuously falling along the sword’s edge.
Being able to condense Sword Intent into Sword Style was the hallmark of the third realm for sword cultivators. Yet, Lin Zhiwei had just entered the second realm and already possessed this ability.
“Six…”
Lin Chengyun was already numb, only managing to utter this one word.
“Miss Lin, is this… the legendary Sword Domain inheritance?”
Lin Zhiwei finally awoke from her state of enlightenment. Feeling the formidable power within her body, a smile finally appeared on her face as she asked subconsciously.
“Yeah…”
Lin Chengyun said grumpily.
“Jade Sword Star-Crushing Style, I think that’s the name.”
Seeing her confirmation, Lin Zhiwei recalled and spoke about what she had just comprehended.
“But I could only digest a superficial understanding. What that senior left behind is too profound. I can remember it, but I can’t see through it yet. I’ll need to slowly contemplate it further.”
She frowned, clearly dissatisfied, and asked subconsciously.
“By the way, Miss Lin, what about you? How much did you comprehend?”
“I… didn’t understand a single thing.”
Lin Chengyun said with a tearful face, telling the truth.
Recalling how not long ago she had arrogantly wanted to buy Lin Zhiwei, she felt her face grow hot.
‘Damn, it hasn’t been that long, and she’s already surpassed me.’
‘Really…’
“Oh, right, it seems that senior came by just now.”
Lin Chengyun rubbed her numb legs, feeling she couldn’t continue discussing this topic with her, or her Dao Heart might shatter. So, she changed the subject.
“Senior? What did he come for?”
Lin Zhiwei was slightly taken aback.
Lin Chengyun briefly recounted the danger they had just faced and how they were saved.
“Where did you meet him? Is he treating you as his successor?”
Her tone carried envy as she asked.
He appeared to save her at the most critical moments twice in a row. He was probably silently guarding her all along. This was either a doting father or someone preparing to take her as their successor.
“I don’t know either. Last time was the first time I saw him.”
Lin Zhiwei was also puzzled.
“Thank you, senior, for intervening. I will never forget this life-saving grace.”
She bowed respectfully, her voice full of gratitude.
Although she didn’t know who that mysterious person was, knowing someone was silently protecting her from the shadows warmed her heart inexplicably.
‘Having someone to protect you, not having to face everything alone…’
‘It’s actually…’
‘Quite nice.’
‘If only Master and the others could support me like this…’
She thought again of the indifference and neglect she had received before coming here. The stark contrast made her heart ache with a strange bitterness.
“Alright, alright, time to go. We still need to deliver the Blood Bone Flower.”
Seeing that it was almost dark, Lin Chengyun finally felt the numbness in her legs subside and hurriedly spoke.
She went into the cave and carefully plucked the red-and-white herb that resembled blood and bone, excitedly saying,
“I heard the Market Master is offering a high bounty for these. We should be able to trade for quite a few good things!”